Del. bands unite tonight to celebrate Joe Strummer

Posted By
Ryan Cormier
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December 20, 2013 @ 10:37 am
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Music,Wilmo,World Cafe Live at The Queen |
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[1]Above: Joe Strummer performs with The Clash in San Bernardino, Calif., in 1983.

Philadelphia’s loss is our gain.

After two years of tribute shows in honor of The Clash’s Joe Strummer[2] at Philadelphia’s North Star Bar, the annual concert is moving south to Wilmington tonight with eight Delaware bands playing Strummer’s songs.

All of the proceeds from the nod to the punk icon, called “Tribute to Joe Strummer: A Benefit For Strummerville,[3]” will go to the musical nonprofit started by Strummer’s widow. The 11-year-old Strummerville charity supports artists and musicians and the development of new music.

“His music was for the working class and it connected to all races and cultures through combining rock and reggae, dub and funk – mixing it into punk rock,” says organizer Andrew Miller, who is hosting the World Cafe Live at the Queen show as part of his long-running original music series Tric Town[4]. “The Clash’s and Strummer’s reach was far, and the influence on future music heavy.”

Miller had been the booking agent for North Star Bar in years past, creating the event for the music venue. He has since moved to New York to book and promote shows there, along with regular trips back south to his native Delaware for concerts he still books in the Wilmington and Newark areas, like tonight’s outing.

[5]Above: Joe Strummer of The Clash on Hollywood’s Walk of the Stars in 1983.

The pair of Philadelphia shows raised about $1,000 for the charity – a number Miller hopes to improve on tonight.

The songs of Strummer – the co-founder of British punk band The Clash, who died in 2002 of an undiagnosed heart defect – will come alive thanks to a strong crop of Delaware rock bands.

Wilmington rock trio The Future Unwritten[6], named for the “The Future is Unwritten” slogan on The Clash’s 1982 “Know Your Rights” single, will be one of the eight acts that will rotate throughout the show, which starts at 8 p.m. at the Queen (500 N. Market St.)

Fellow Wilmington bands The Fakirs, The Headies, The Keefs and The Lift-Up are also on board, as are Newark acts Disaster Committee, Tin Can Ramblers and DJ Shady Lady. The bands represent a variety of genres from alternative rock and rockabilly to punk and garage rock.

Tickets are $8[7] at the door for the show, which will be held on the venue’s upstairs stage.

Each band will perform a 20-minute set of songs by Strummer, choosing from his solo work, his songs with The Clash and his late-in-life band The Mescaleros. Expect a mix of lesser-known songs mixed in with Clash hits like “I Fought the Law,” “London Calling” and “Should I Stay or Should I Go.”

For bands like The Future Unwritten, which count Strummer as one of its influences and regularly drops The Clash’s “The Magnificent Seven” into its regular sets, performing at a tribute that helps a cause he dedicated his life to is an honor. After all, his music still looms large, 10 years after being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

[8]Above: Wilmington rock band The Future Unwritten will perform tonight at World Cafe Live at the Queen in tribute to The Clash’s Joe Strummer.

The Future Unwritten’s Neil Kremer, who performed at the previous two Philadelphia Strummerville shows with his band, remembers first seeing The Clash on MTV through the band’s 1982 “Rock The Casbah” video. He has since ingested Strummer’s entire catalog and will perform both songs by The Clash and The Mescaleros tonight.

“With The Clash, he melded so many different types of music together. Each album almost sounds like a different band,” says Kremer, whose band is the only act that will have played all three of Millers’ Strummerville shows. “The guy was a very genuine person and a real fan of music. There are stories of fans coming to shows and not having a place to stay and him letting them stay at his house.”

Kremer says the first two shows drew an eclectic mix of music fans, mirroring Strummer’s expansive musical palate: “There was a whole spectrum with reggae fans in dreads hanging out with college kids. It was pretty cool.”

IF YOU GOWhat: “Tribute to Joe Strummer: A Benefit For Strummerville” with Delaware acts The Fakirs, Disaster Committee, The Future Unwritten, The Headies, The Keefs, Tin Can Ramblers, The Lift Up and DJ ShadyladyWhen: Tonight, 8Where: World Cafe Live at the Queen, 500 N. Market St., WilmingtonCost: $8